Psychotic  Episode 4: True Natures Pt 2
by Glod
Summary: Control is a skill Jay treasures above all else, but can she stop herself from losing it?
1. Panic

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Panic**

Jay let out a scream so blood curdling the few people in the room leapt up from their seats, prepared for battle. Flash watched, concerned, as Jay stepped backwards, as if desperately trying to move away from a nightmare. Just to make sure, Flash checked behind him. Nope, nothing there. He had no idea what she was so frightened of, but there was no denying that she was terrified.

Her eyes were darting from one side to another, unfocussed, her arms raised in front of her, warding off whatever phantom was haunting her. Flash stepped forward as Jay took yet another step back, violently shaking her head.

"No! No! No! _No!_" She screamed, punctuating each word with an increasingly aggressive shake of her head. To Flash's horror, her eyes took on a violet hue and a few wayward sparks shot from her hands.

"Call J'onn!" Flash snapped at Fire and Ice, who were standing a few steps back, ready to act as soon as they could figure out what was happening. Fire nodded and sprinted for the control room. Flash turned his attention back to Jay just as her entire body was surrounded with magic.

"No! She'll – " Jay shouted, throwing out an arm, hand cocked back as if to halt a train in its tracks. Her other hand curled into a tight fist.

"She won't." Jay ground out, finally focusing her eyes on something just behind Flash. Flash checked. There was just a wall.

Before he could wonder what she was up to, she'd started flying straight towards him, accelerating at speeds that could rival his. At the last moment he shifted out of the way, but turned to follow her course.

She careened headlong into the wall. She was out cold in seconds.

---

"I really have no idea, J'onn. I stopped her to talk to her, she never said anything, just got that preoccupied look. Then she started screaming like a maniac and next thing I know she's making close acquaintance with the canteen wall. She made quite the good impression, judging by the size of the dent."

Jay groaned as her consciousness returned. Her head was throbbing to a disco it hadn't invited her to and she could swear she felt the lump growing. She spent a minute contemplating the wisdom of knocking herself out on the wall before she opened her eyes.

_Ouch. Please can we not do that again?_

Jay snorted agreement.

"She is awake." J'onn's deep voice preceded him into Jay's field of vision. She tried rising to greet him, but found her hands cuffed to the side of the bed. Jay frowned down at the clamps around her wrists.

_Well, it makes sense. We're clearly unbalanced, having just tried to kill ourselves._

_I didn't try to kill us. I just figured that if we were unconscious she couldn't do anything._

Jay didn't have to clarify to herself who 'she' was.

"I am sorry for the restraints. But until we are sure that you are not a danger to yourself or others, they will have to stay." Jay had to give J'onn credit: he sounded like he was sincerely sorry for the necessity.

"It's ok. I'm kind of glad." Jay assured J'onn, earning herself a puzzled look.

"I would like to discuss this, Jay." J'onn kept his expression open, hoping she'd open the conversation without further prompting.

"Yeah, why did you feel the need to pummel the wall?" Flash interjected.

"Flash. That is not helping." J'onn scolded before Jay could so much as blush. "Perhaps you should leave us alone. I will call you if I need anything."

Flash shot J'onn a frustrated look, before striding out of the room.

"Now perhaps you feel more comfortable." J'onn addressed Jay, turning back to her. He stopped short at the look of intense concentration on her face. Her gaze was no longer focused in the room, her jaw was clenched tightly.

"Jay?" J'onn called, trying to get her attention, to no avail. He watched her for a few more minutes. When there was still no change, he made his decision. His eyes glowed orange as he entered Jay's mind.


	2. Meeting

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Meeting**

Jay liked to call these 'team meetings'. It had always amused her that she was her own two person team, and even _needed_ 'team meetings'. She couldn't have them very often, since they required her body to be uncontrolled while both her minds were occupied. It was the only time both sides of herself could concentrate fully on talking to each other.

What was weird about this team meeting was that there was more than just the two of them.

There was Jay, tall, chocolate skinned, deep honey brown eyes still and somber. Her dark hair was pulled back off her striking face, tied back with a black elastic band. She was without fail spread casually on one of the tall backed chairs surrounding the circular table that dominated the room. The room being conveniently located in Jay's imagination, the décor was an eclectic mix of tastes and styles. The chrome table and steel chairs reflected the sterile calm of her temper.

Then there was Jay, tall, chocolate skinned, sparkling amber eyes never resting long, hair flowing silkily down around her shoulders to midway down her back, layered so it looked like a dark waterfall falling around her. She stood, she strode around the room, she leaned on chairs and propped herself on the edge of the table. She forced the walls of this room into warm red bricks, a fire crackling softly in a marble fireplace, a window overlooking a beautiful valley.

They dressed differently here. It was the only place they could express their differences. One Jay dressed in comfortable black jeans with a black tank top loose around her torso. The other Jay wore a short beige skirt, a tight gold off-the-shoulder blouse showing off her smooth shoulders and curved figure.

Then there was the third. Both Jay's eyed this newcomer with suspicion. She looked just like them, same height, same familiar chocolate skin. Her eyes separated her from them- they weren't a variation on light brown, instead burning with a violet fire that was uncomfortable to look at. Her hair was worn straight cut and just below shoulder length, much as it was in reality. Her clothes were as deep a purple as the magic, a loose blouse rippling lilac waves in a breeze that seemed to affect only her. Her eyebrows were pulled down in a distrustful frown as she stood off to the side of the room. She was Psychotic, in the flesh.

Well, figuratively speaking.

They'd been silent for a few minutes now, even the more active Jay only leaning on the table eyeing this new girl. No one said a word.

"This is new." A deep, nearly monotonous voice said from the far right of the room.

All three girls whipped around. Standing there, eyeing the room and the girls inside it with a lot of curiosity was none other than J'onn Jonzz, Martian Manhunter.

He nearly took a step back when all three narrowed their eyes at him in identical expressions of territorialism. Thankfully only the Jay in beige stepped forward and spoke.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded, as both other girls glared. The Jay in black straightened in her seat, losing any semblance of casualness. The other one stayed in her corner of the room, which almost seemed to darken around her. Her eyes became fierier, and J'onn didn't need to be psychic to feel the anger coming off her.

"You seemed like you needed help. I offer my services as mediator, if you wish." J'onn explained.

"Mediator?" The Jay in black repeated, frowning in contemplation.

"Unnecessary." Psychotic finally spoke, the first time either Jay heard her speak. There were only subtle differences in her voice to a stranger, but both Jay's heard the undercurrent of negative emotion in her words, blaring out the differences between them.

Neither Jay had time to say a word before Psychotic had reached for the magic, and with an almost careless lack of effort flicked J'onn right out of their mind.

"What did you do that for?" Jay shouted, her beige skirt whirling around her thighs as she spun to glare at Psychotic. "He was only trying to help!"

"Unnecessary." Psychotic repeated. "I wish to speak with you. I want no strangers present."

"J'onn is hardly a stranger." Jay pointed out, leaning back in her seat, doing her level best to hide her fear and uneasiness behind her act of indifference.

Psychotic didn't deign to answer. Silence spread once more.

Finally Jay broke the silence, smoothing down her skirt as she sat herself primly in a seat opposite from her sensible self. "If you want to talk, talk. Don't just stand there wasting our time." The other Jay nodded agreement.

Psychotic seemed to consider this for a moment. Finally she nodded, taking two steps forward to bring herself under further scrutiny from both Jay's.

"I am Psychotic."

"Yes, we know." Jay answered drolly, arching an eyebrow and cocking her head as she rested one elbow on an armrest. She casually threw one black-clad leg over the other armrest, once again adopting her favourite slouched position in this room.

Psychotic frowned at this nonchalant response. "I wished to know your names." She growled.

"Jay." Both other girls answered. Psychotic frowned in confusion.

"You are both Jay?"

"Why should one of us be called anything different?" Jay asked, as if Psychotic's confusion were totally ridiculous.

"How do you differentiate yourselves?" Psychotic asked.

"I think I'm usually referred to as 'the sensible one'." The Jay in black replied with a malicious grin at the other Jay.

"And I'm just 'the other self'." The Jay in beige responded in the same tone.

Psychotic shook her head, clearly more confused than ever. "How do others tell you apart?"

Jay shrugged her bare shoulders, casually picking imaginary lint off her gold blouse. "Others only ever see one or the other of us. Usually her." She answered, nodding at the other Jay.

"Then how do you suggest I differentiate you?" Psychotic growled, the breeze strengthening around her, and beginning to ruffle the Jay's clothes.

Jay looked across the round table at her other self, who was still absent mindedly brushing her gold top. Psychotic waited with decreasing patience for a response. One Jay shrugged at the other.

"Can't really help you there, I'm afraid." Jay answered, leaning over the other armrest from the one she had a leg over.

"That's a bit mean." The other said with a little frown as she leaned forward, her long layered hair falling across her shoulders.

"Yeah well, there's nothing I can do."

Psychotic frowned at them both, her eyes flicking from one to the other as they bantered, smiled at each other, exchanged knowing looks and excluded her from being a part of them.

"I wish to be a part." Psychotic growled.

Both of the other girls stared at Psychotic. They exchanged another one of their expressive looks before one spoke slowly and patiently.

"Psychotic, we're in the same body. To everyone else, we're the same person. There is no way you could ever be apart from us."

Psychotic sighed. "That was not my meaning. You misheard."

"Um, no we didn't." Jay pointed out, arching a carefully shaped eyebrow. "You said you wanted to be apart."

"No. I said I would like to be _a_ _part_. A part of you."

The girls exchanged another one of those looks, before turning uncomprehending stares on Psychotic. Psychotic felt her frustration rising.

"I wish to be involved. I wish to belong. I do not want to hide any more. I will not hide any more!" Each sentence was said with increasing volume, a world of hurt and misery contained in the simple words. Jay frowned, still unable to fully understand, but when she looked over, she found an expression of sympathy on the face of her sensible self.

"I want to be spoken to. I want to be recognized by you. I do not want to be the madness in the depths of your souls. I am Psychotic. I am another one of you."

As she said this, Psychotic spoke directly to Jay who had swung her leg off the armrest. As if sensing that it was this girl who understood best.

There was a silence after Psychotic spoke. From one side a steady, studying gaze regarded Psychotic; from the other, the same eyes in a lighter shade jumped from one girl to another in confusion.

Finally Jay broke the silence. "I don't get it."

"You wouldn't." The other growled, glaring with dark chocolate eyes across the table. "You've never had to be the one standing there as everyone around you shunned you, ignored you, and tried to pretend you didn't exist. Everyone _likes_ you, you're the sanest one of the lot of us."

"How is that my fault?" Jay defended herself, stung by the animosity coming from her greatest ally.

"It's not your fault! I'm just saying, I get where Psychotic is coming from, and I think we need to give her a chance."

"A chance?" Jay squeaked, disbelief in every rising decibel. "A chance to what? Completely wreck everything? Kill a few dozen people?"

"I can control myself." Psychotic inserted haughtily.

"Yeah, right." Jay glared at Psychotic. "The way you've controlled yourself so far? Thank you, we can do without that kind of control."

The constant breeze around Psychotic picked up, blowing at the Jay's and fanning the fire in her eyes. "I _can_ control myself!" She repeated.

"I believe her." Coming from the sensible one of them, that statement carried a lot of weight.

"You _what?_" Jay stared in disbelief.

"I believe her." The sensible Jay repeated. "She has more control on the magic than both of us together. You've seen what she can do."

"So explain to me why every time she's emerged so far, she's left nothing but destruction?"

There was no answer. Jay-in-Black simply turned and looked expectantly at Psychotic, who surprisingly seemed a little embarrassed.

"You build a very firm wall." Psychotic told Jay-in-Gold, almost shamefacedly. "You are aware that the magic responds more strongly with emotion? The only way I could ever break through was with anger."

"And once angry, we all know how hard it is to calm down." Jay-in-Black added, pointedly.

Psychotic shrugged. "Despite the anger, you have been able to shut me back in with relative ease. So far."

Jay had no reply. The girls lapsed into another silence, expectation thick in the air.

"All right." Jay finally broke the silence. "But Psychotic, you don't get control of the body or the magic without our say-so, ok? Jay there is the best person to have in control, and it's going to stay that way, for all our sakes! Are we clear?"

Both the other girls nodded. They contemplated each other for a few moments longer.

"That's settled then?" Jay asked. More nods. "Fine. Let's give this a try."

Still glaring distrustfully at each other, each girl faded out.


	3. Arguments

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Arguments**

"I simply have a headache Flash. There is no need for all this concern." J'onn growled in a low monotone, closing his eyes against the light, which was only making this grandmother of a headache worse.

"Are you sure? What did she do to you? Is she going to attack the rest of us?" Flash shot the questions at J'onn as he uselessly zipped around the room, bringing J'onn a glass of water, a cloth, and a bucket of ice water with his sincerest expression of worry.

"Please hold still Flash. You are making it worse." J'onn groaned. Flash halted abruptly, still frowning over J'onn.

"What happened, though?" Flash repeated.

"She simply expelled me from her mind." J'onn replied, hoping against hope that this answer would satisfy Flash. He should be so lucky.

"Can she _do_ that?" Flash shouted, adding whole worlds of pain to J'onn's already sore head.

"Clearly." J'onn mumbled.

"But, how? No-one's ever done that!" Flash exclaimed, still in a voice designed to make a headache worse.

"She has multiple personalities. The one thing they are definitely good at is keeping each other out of their minds." J'onn whispered. Maybe if Flash wouldn't shut up he'd lower his voice if J'onn lowered his?

By some miracle, this reply shut Flash up. J'onn reveled in the glorious silence for the whole of a minute.

Flash reflected on J'onn's last sentence. "I so don't get that."

J'onn moaned piteously and implemented all his considerable self control to prevent himself from crying. "Please Flash. I will answer your questions later, but for now, please, can you be silent?"

"J'onn?" Jay's voice reverberated through the wall separating the observation bay, where J'onn sat nursing his head, and Jay's infirmary room, where she was still tied down to the bed. It was loud and confident, and went through J'onn's head like a sledgehammer.

Flash frowned over J'onn as the martian's features contorted into a grimace of pain. "I'll take this one, shall I?" Flash offered. He was gone before J'onn could protest.

The quiet left behind was the most wonderful thing J'onn had felt for a long time. He knew he should probably go answer Jay, but for now, he just wanted to rest his head and relax. He'd just shut his eyes for a minute…

Within seconds he'd fallen into a blissful, pain free sleep.

---

Jay looked up as the door to her room slid open with an expensive 'swish'. But it wasn't J'onn that walked in. Flash sidled cautiously into the room.

"Where's J'onn?" Jay asked, her voice made aggressive by the warring emotions Flash caused in her.

_Him! I hate him. _

_How can you hate him? He is SO hot._

_Hot? Because he is 'hot' you would forgive him everything?_

_Well not _everything

_Please would you both shut up?_

'Sensible self' Jay managed to focus in on the end of Flash's sentence.

"- indisposed." Flash was answering cautiously, clearly forcing himself not to react to Jay's aggression.

"Pardon me?" Jay said, confused.

Once again, Flash's reply was drowned out by the voices arguing in her head.

_There must be some way to differentiate between you._

_Hey, we can tell who's who no problem!_

_But surely you see how difficult it could get?_

_Both of you, shut up! _

"Are you alright?" Flash had inched marginally closer to Jay, though he still kept a safe distance.

Jay shook her head trying to shake out voices that were impossible to get rid of. With a great effort, Jay forced herself to ignore the background discussion.

"I'm fine, thank you." Jay mumbled, concentrating hard on blanking out the other two.

_It's only difficult if you make it. We're in the same head, how difficult is it to direct your thoughts one direction or the other?_

"Do you want a drink or something?" Flash asked politely.

_The whole point of names is to identify every individual. The system fails if you refuse to take different names! _

"No, thank you. I wanted to speak to J'onn." Jay spoke hesitantly, frowning into the middle distance, and unable to focus on Flash. Which was probably a good thing considering how little she liked him. And especially considering that Psychotic didn't seem to like him much either.

_It's our name! You can't just waltz in here and change our name! _

"J'onn's… not feeling very well right now." Flash explained.

_I do not _waltz_ anywhere._

"Oh. It wasn't my fault, was it?" Jay's voice gained a note of concern as she remembered what Psychotic had done to J'onn. She really liked J'onn.

_Don't change the subject just because you're losing the argument! And anyway, look what you did to poor J'onn! _

"Well, I'm sure there's a lawyer somewhere who could argue it wasn't your fault." Flash quipped with a tentative smile. Jay suppressed a smile. The man was mildly amusing.

_He amuses you? Interesting._

_Why should her amusement be interesting? _

_Look you, don't you start! You're already in enough trouble about J'onn!_

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him. We just… never expected to see him in there. It's a pretty crowded head. We get pretty territorial." Jay explained. Flash grinned uncomfortably. There was a short pause.

_He should not have been in there to begin with. I simply did what you did not have the courage to do!_

_Not have the courage? Are you calling me chicken?_

_No, I am calling you a coward. Why would I want to call you a chicken?_

_Well, excuse me! It just so happens that _I_ am capable of attempting a little _diplomacy_ first! _

_He would have left if we had asked?_

_If I had eyes right now, I would so be glaring at you. _

"Um. Is there anything I could do?" Flash broke into the argument Jay was listening to, morbidly fascinated by what sounded like some misbegotten comedy track written by an idiot.

"Uh… well, I just wanted to ask J'onn to untie me. I'm ok now. But I guess he won't be able to make sure of that until he's better?" Jay explained hopefully.

"I think it's a good idea to wait for J'onn." Flash agreed, although he softened enough to look at Jay apologetically as he said it. "He shouldn't be too long. I'll come by to check up on you in a bit, alright?"

Jay suppressed a grimace, and settled in for a long wait as Flash left the room. At least she had her own entertainment.

_He would really have just left?_

_You don't trust very well do you? _


	4. Unity

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Justice League/ JLU.

**Psychotic**

**Unity**

It took J'onn until the next day to recover enough to want to risk exposure to Jay again. He'd moved only to get into bed, and even that had had to be done with the aid of Flash and a lot of effort at not moving his head. It was with trepidation that he entered Jay's room again the next morning.

Jay was lying back, clearly as comfortable as she could get being strapped down to the bed. Her head snapped up, her eyes flashing purple for a short moment before her more normal honey brown came over. Jay cocked her head to one side and regarded J'onn unsmilingly.

"I apologise for yesterday." Jay said softly, her eyes scouring J'onn for any sign of permanent damage.

J'onn inclined his head. "It is alright. I perhaps should have known better than to intrude."

"We don't mind so much," Jay shrugged. "But Psychotic had a bit of an issue with it."

As soon as Jay said 'Psychotic', J'onn tensed and narrowed his eyes at her.

_You are screwing this up. Let me take over!_

"That is what we need to discuss." J'onn began in his deep voice. He'd barely finished his sentence before Jay visibly perked up, a sheepish smile spread across her face, and her eyes lightened a shade to a light amber colour.

"Yeah- about Psychotic." Jay gave as much of a shrug as her bonds would allow her. "We kind of have her under control now. She's not hiding any more so we can keep an eye on her. And she's promised to behave!" Jay finished with a hopeful grin.

J'onn frowned at her. "I do not understand."

"Well, the long and short of it is, she's part of us now. No getting rid of her, she's her own person, just like me or … me." Jay shrugged. "But now she's talking to us. We're keeping tabs on her, and she's promised not to do anything stupid anymore."

"How can I guarantee this?" J'onn asked, suspiciously.

Jay got a little nervous. She twitched slightly, then with a slightly panicked grin, she handed the body over.

J'onn watched in trepidation as the amber eyes turned purple, even the whites changing till there were only two lilac flames burning from Jay's eye sockets.

"I am Psychotic." As she said this, her posture straightened. It was neither the submissive slump of one Jay nor the perky bubbliness of the other. This girl, with her flaming eyes and stony features held her head up proudly. "I am informed that I must talk to you."

J'onn stepped forward tentatively. "Is there any guarantee you are safe?" J'onn asked.

Psychotic lifted her chin and regarded J'onn. "There is no guarantee but my word that I can control myself. Jay and… Jay permit me to share this body. That is all I wished for. I have agreed to… behave." Psychotic's beautiful face twisted into a sneer at that last word.

"It is not enough." J'onn answered sternly. "You have already endangered us on the Watchtower, we cannot risk the safety of all who live here."

Psychotic sneered. "If I was truly out of control, do you think I would be lying here, bound like some animal? I am informed that I must earn your trust- I have not yet torn apart this infirmary. That can be your proof!"

"You have a lot of power. But if you threaten the Justice League we _will_ deal with you accordingly." J'onn delivered his ultimatum in a hard monotone, the expression on his face as hard and unyielding as stone. Both Jay's, listening with Psychotic's ears, hardened their resolve.

Psychotic only curled her lip. Her eyes were as hard as J'onn's as they glared at each other. And as J'onn stared unmoving, the colour changed again.

The purple receded, showing the whites of her eyes once more. From the centre of her pupils, brown spilled out, colouring her irises with a swirling mix of honey and amber. Around the iris, a thin luminescent ring of purple remained. The voice with which she spoke next was the most chilling yet.

"We will not be threatened." Three voices spoke in unison, each as hard and unyielding as the next. The Jay's were infused with a courage they'd never felt before- Psychotic's influence no doubt. Psychotic feared nothing.

"We are one. You can trust us all, or you can trust none of us." As they spoke, all three became aware of the truth of this. They were one person. The Jay's were long used to sticking by each other- it was that, or tear themselves apart. Now it seemed Psychotic was included in their fierce loyalty.

"One way or the other, we _will_ get out of here today." As they spoke, the straps holding them down snapped one by one. She levitated off the bed and straightened, hovering in front of J'onn so her multicoloured eyes were level with his. "We give our word that none will come to harm, wherever you see fit to leave us. We give our word that we will obey all your rules and regulations. We can give nothing more. _Choose_."

J'onn's expression never wavered, though he was frantically thinking. There was no way of restraining her; if he chose to expel her from the watchtower she would be a very dangerous loose cannon. The Founding Seven had already decided the safest place to have her would be on the watchtower, with the restrictions they had already imposed. In her Jay personas, she was relatively safe. Her Psychotic persona seemed now to be co-operating.

J'onn summed this all up and did a very speedy risk calculation. With reluctance, he nodded his head. "You may stay. But you will still be governed by the restrictions we have already placed on you. And you will be watched _constantly_. Before we were not ready for you, now we will always be prepared. Do not think you can catch us out twice. Should you lose control again, we _will_ take severe measures. This is your last chance."

The Psychotic-Jay girl cocked her head and considered for a moment. Finally, she gave a curt nod. As she did so, the purple faded from her iris, and she floated gently back down to the floor. By the time her feet had touched ground, her eyes were back to a glowing amber and a huge grin was on her face.

"You won't regret this!" Jay said, enthusiastically.

J'onn only turned and went off to nurse his newest headache.


End file.
